The Fours Head weekend brought with it calm and serene conditions, a reasonable stream and some fast times.
The men in the Fours Head on Saturday put in two crews: the new combination of Alex Marlow, Tom Suanders, Chris Mollison and Matt Nicholls (arguably our 2 best men's doubles); and the Juniors in an unusual combination of Jack Grace, Pierre Flasse, Andrew Collins and Ross Porter (Andrew had to sub in for Jake which resulted in a crew swap around).
The senior quad sculled at IM1, and despite coming 104th with a solid time of 19.53, came in the 2nd half of their category - such is the competitiveness of the Fours Head. Tom did mention that it was a bit of a slog, as it was a melding of 2 different styles - so some work to be done there.
The seniors can be seen here at about 1.20 into the video.
The juniors came 150th in 20.11. Pretty good for a scratch crew and when you compare it to the seniors, but at the same time, the Junior category at the Fours Head was very competitive and our boys came roughly midfield.
They can be seen here at about 0.39 into the video:
On Sunday, 3 Men's Vets crews competed. The superb mixed Medway/MIRC Vet B quad with Lewin Hynes, James Knight and Shaun and Michael from Medway, came 3rd overall in a field of just over 200, and 2nd out of their category of 6 with a very fast time of 19.21. A fantastic result, though they were a little disappointed at not winning a pennant.
The ex Novice Vet C 4x of Darren Prentice, Bob Barber, Jez Massey and Ali Machin completed the course in a very reasonable 22.02, and should be proud of the achievement. Despite the reality of promotion to Open status from Novice and then competing at one of the top events of the year, they all seemed very motivated from the experience.
Finally, the experimental Vet D 4x of Ray Phillips, Ollie Barton, Gerraint Evans and Richard Huggins had a strong row and came in mid-field with a time of 20.46. They are definitely progressing in the right direction: beating Vesta, who just pipped them in the first heat at Henley Vets in the summer, and slowly closing the gap with Ardingly.
A big thanks to the loyal trailer towers, wellie monitors, and general support who came along over the weekend.
